I think my favorite part of this show is the audience banter you overhear between Greatest Story and TLEO. I'm pretty sure a dude is trying to picking up a girl by offering a tape of Red Rocks. Nice.

I have to disagree that it's not a great show. First of all, the show was tremendous fun, a beautiful fall day at Stanford, and the band was spot on, having a blast. What this show (and the next) says to me, IMO, is a band listening to each other, playing off each other, really tight, but innovative, on every note, just blasting out the music and having fun.

The Throwing Stones, IMO, is one of my all time favorites. I loved wht they did, in this particular one, with the Slipknotish flavor of the jam in there. The song was still it's infancy, but thought this was very well played out.

Now, I'm not saying anything here is "best of", and I do prefer, personally, the next day more, but I have gotten a lot of pleasure from listening to this show. Probably my favorite piece is the Eyes.

One other thing, it needs to be cranked up loud to truly appreciate it. :)

Just a few clarifications (I was there on the rail)

It was a day show, not a night.
They were most definately having fun. One might say they were having a blast. I know I did! As far as how it stack up to the rest of the year, I dunno, at the time it seemed like the perfect show on a perfect day in a beautiful venue.

Other reviews point out some dislikes about the show. I will focus on the positive.

Having shows which have faults gives us perspective of the great ones. Despite the faults they still played the show! I wouldn't have walked out. I personally enjoy hearing an occasional mistake woven into the tapestry of musicianship. It helps me to realize my musical glitches are OK too.

Onto the show itself. I agree with the other comments about the quality of the recording. Bobby's guitar is lost on too many recordings. Not this one, though. His playing is rhythmically interesting, this recording highlights this. Jerry's lead articulations are easily heard on this recording as well. Ultimately, the quality of the recording justifies the listening.

Thanks for sharing it.

Have to agree with the two reviews below. Overall this has everything I love about the 80's Auds, but the playing and singing leaves something to be desired for me. Other One and Dew are worth a listen though!

great performance ... incredible recording.what else can you say...
addendum --- after reading the three star review above, I listened to this show again focusing on the playing rather than the quality of the recording. I agree full heart-edly that the performance is lacking.

I would describe this as poor performance ... incredible recording. It is easy to let the crystal clear quality of this recording obfuscate the lackluster play. The boys were strugglin' on this night. Thanks for the constructive criticism of the show FolkHippie. You are definitely correct on this one.

I'm not sure why this show gets the hype that it does. Is it a fantastically clear audience tape? Of course! It almost sounds like a stereo board! Phil and Brent are a little low in the mix, but for an AUD it's pretty great. As for the playing itself, I would seriously take a step back and listen before you start singing praises. This is by far one of the weaker shows of 1982.

I have never written a less than five star review here on the Archive, so don't think I just go around bashing on the 80's. I love every era and year, especially the energy and styles of the early 80's. I have listened through most of the '82-'85 era shows on the Archive and this particular night falls far below most all of the other nights during this era. This show is plagued by failed chord changes and sloppy playing. Bobby is hitting wrong notes all over this tape, and Jerry's playing seemed tired and forced. The first set is extremely plain, Jerry's voice is blown, they boys just can't seem to get it together. Listen to them struggle through what could have been an amazing TMNS. Random strumming and failed chord changes, with Jerry soaring aimlessly over a muddy rhythm.

Phil is way low in the mix and his bass has almost no punch. I think he might be using a Fender jazz bass as he was known to pull out from time to time during this year. That instrument never suited his style; it just isn't prominent enough. Brent is playing a very early 80's electric piano keyboard. It sounds like an $80 Casio. I miss his Rhodes piano and B-3 organ all the way through this show. Bobby is playing to the crowd, changing the lyrics of some songs and doing his "ha yaaa, ha yaa"/strained-voice, over-dramatic singing during the whole show (Truckin', OMSN and especially Estimated), which can be enjoyable occasionally, but tonight it's just over-the-top.

The second set starts out with an incredibly bad Throwing Stones>Touch of Grey combo, which I know...they were in their infancy and shouldn't be judged so harshly, but they were just not good. Botched chord changes and off-time moments everywhere. It is not the setlist or the songs tonight, just the inability for the boys to get on the same level and jam. Rather than sounding like "five fingers on a hand," they sound like six individuals, all out of synch, out of key, and just trying to make it through the night. The Eyes of the World is brutally short, another failed attempt to take off that ended with random noodling from Jer and Bob and a quick transition into Truckin'. The Truckin' is just downright awful. A little magic comes together in the Other One and Morning Dew...but...ah..nah. Morning Dew is definitely the only song worth listening to here, and it hurts me to say that, but it's the truth.

This is just a really weak show. There is absolutely nothing unique or interesting about this performance, and that's okay, I don't expect the Dead to be robots of musical perfection. They are my favorite band, I love their 80's shows, and I love them enough, and have listened to them enough to be able to realize that not every night is going to be their greatest performance. Every single show they played should not be put into the "best ever" category, even when the sound quality of the tape is as amazing as this. I tried hard to look for the hidden jewels here...but came up empty handed. I think you will agree with me if you really listen to the playing on this tape and compare it to other nights from the tour. I really believe they were having absolutely NO fun at all during this concert.

Sorry if I offended anyone, or if this is someone's very favorite show. Just telling you what my ears heard. Great audience recording, horrible performance. 3 stars, because even the Dead on a bad night beats any other band on their very best...

How over 1,000 can download this show without a one stopping to say, "OMG, what a stunning recording!" is beyond me. Now there is one.

Thanks Rango, for all your sick pulls; And thanks Charlie, for all you do in getting so much gorgeous music into the community.